Black people are so rude.
Tim Padgett of Time Magazine thinks the NAACP has a relevancy problem. He also believes they lack civility—Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney was booed by the organization Wednesday in Houston after he mentioned he would repeal Obamacare if elected.
According to Padgett, the NAACP is no different than Senator Joe Wilson, who last summer shouted “You lie!” during a speech delivered by President Obama. He argues the organization is guilty of a double standard because they passed a resolution stating they would engage in and promote civil discourse. They took a pledge, for Christ’s sake.
This double standard, however, relies on the interpretation of the NAACP’s actions as uncivil rather than reacting to a sly tormentor.
Romney, however, was civil.
Or so Padgett seems to believe. The mark of a civil discourse is rhetoric saturated with disingenuous statements, like this one:
“If you want a President who’ll make things better in the African-American community, you are looking at him. Take a look!”
The taunting of Romney goes completely unremarked in his essay, nor does he analyze Romney’s intentions in delivering a speech to an organization he knows to be hostile to him. Instead of critically examining Romney’s ploy, Pudgett beleives now is as a good a time as any to play the balance game! The game where you go tit-for-tat, where every action has an equal and opposite reaction. In other words, the game where you rewrite history.
Pudgett’s ill-founded desire for a balanced dialogue culimates in this statement that leaves one dumbfounded:
But he said he accepted the NAACP’s invitation because he hopes to “represent all Americans,” and even if you consider that a disingenuous sentiment on his part, it too is in keeping with a spirit of civil discourse.
…and even if you consider that a disingenuous sentiment on his part, it too is in keeping with a spirit of civil discourse.
If civility is being disingenuous, if a civil discourse is one in which being polite is more valued than being honest, then you can keep your civil bull.
